Azrael Knight Errant
by WolvishOne
Summary: Chapter 3 now up - Is that a bat in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
1. Prologue

"What?!?!" Jean Paul exclaimed, as he read the headline of the Gotham Tattler.  The other people in the supermarket check-out line with him turned and gave him dirty looks.  Still, he couldn't help himself when he saw it, in big bold letters:

"AZRAEL PRESUMED DEAD, ASSASSIN NOW IN CUSTODY"

_What in the bloody hell is this?_ He thought, as he picked the "magazine" up to try to find the accompanying article inside.  _It was bad enough when they said I saw flaming apparitions in the sky while crawling along the rooftops, but now I'm dead?_

**Is it any worse than having an Angel in your head, mortal?**  Azrael finally piped in, a tinge of laughter in his mental voice.  **Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.**

_Hey, technically YOU are the one they say is dead._  Jean Paul retorted, as he finally located the article.

**Well, they got part of the facts right, **Azrael replied, **It is true that Batman apprehended Lehah.**

For which I'm eternally grateful.  The bastard did kill my father, after all.  I'm just glad Batman got to him before I did, or I might have "forgotten" our promise to him to never kill again.

**It would not have come to that, mortal, **Azrael admonished.  **We have taken an oath, which we both take very, very seriously.  I would not have allowed it.**

_Thanks for the support, _Jean Paul snorted mentally in disgust.  _Guess I better put this thing down, before the check-out girl makes me pay for it...Somehow, that's not something I want any of my friends to find on my coffee table when they visit!_

Quite correct, mortal.  I cringe when I think of the Cat's reaction to you believing anything they print, anyway.__

_Don't think that!  She'd kill us!_

**I sincerely doubt that.  Besides, I am quite sure she would devise a torture that would be much worse than death.  **Azrael's mental images caused Jean Paul to cringe visibly.

"Come on buddy," said the guy behind him in line, "It can't be that bad!  I won $5 from playing the lottery numbers they put in there..."

Jean Paul simply gave the man a funny look, then started placing his groceries on the conveyor.  _People like him are what cause unrest._

Please do not attempt to use Monty Python quotes to justify a redneck mentality, mortal.  They are simply better than that.

You know, this was much easier back when I thought of you as just a computer program in my head...

*--*--*--*--*

Jean Paul's mind drifts back to Paris, nearly a year ago now.  He had just barely survived destroying the Order of Saint Dumas' Ice Cathedral, and then a run-in with the man who had created him.  Having accidentally killed his brother while fighting the Grey Abbot, Jean Paul had lapsed into a deep depression, which his friend Brian Bryan was attempting to draw him back out of.  As they walked around the placid streets of Paris, they discussed just what it meant to have been "born" the way Jean Paul had.

"You're reading too much into this, Jean Paul," Brian had said, "It doesn't matter if you were grown in a test tube or not, you're still a human being."

"A human being who has been programmed since before birth to be a perfect killing machine," he had replied.

"Maybe so, but maybe not.  Have you ever stopped to think that maybe your Azrael persona isn't just some brainwashing the Order submitted you to?  That maybe, just maybe, there's truly another being sharing your soul?"

"And you call yourself a psychiatrist?  I was expecting you to tell me I'm schizophrenic, not that I'm sharing my body with an angelic being!"

"I do not call myself a psychiatrist," Brian had retorted.  "I call myself a recovering alcoholic.  Besides, with everything I've seen and experienced in the past two months, I'm starting to believe that there MUST be something bigger out there.  If only I could remember where I was before Ra's Al Ghul dumped me in that pit and brought me back to life..."

As Brian trailed off, Jean Paul began to truly consider his words.  _He's right, we've seen too much lately to discount any possibility.  I could have sworn I heard that golden head speak to Brother Rolo, and it was supposedly the head of St. Dumas himself!  So maybe I do share my soul with an Angel.  Maybe it's not just "the System," maybe it's something else?_

**Not "something" else, Mortal, but someone!**

"Who was that?" Jean Paul exlaimed aloud, startling Brian.

"Who was what?" Brian replied, giving his friend the once-over with his eyes.

"Didn't you just hear someone talking?"  Jean Paul asked, hopefully.

"I didn't hear anything, Jean Paul.  Why, what did you hear?"

"I was just thinking that maybe you were right, that maybe it's not the System but something else, then I heard someone say 'not something, but someone!'"

**If you are going to quote me, Mortal, at least get the words correct**.

"There it goes again!"  Jean Paul exclaimed, then fell to the ground covering his ears.

"What, what is it?" Brian exclaimed, but Jean Paul only laid there, twitching.  "Somebody help me!"

*--*--*--*--*

_To Be Continued.._


	2. Explanations

Author's note: The hack writing this fan fiction has no legal claim to any of the characters within. In fact, they belong to DC Comics, and are being used without their express written permission. Hell, they probably don't even know I exist...which is probably a good thing in the long run!

I'd like to thank Chris Dee and Myklar Cure for all the inspiration their fics have brought me.

_For Michelle. Even twenty years later, I still think of you every day. Rest in peace little sister._

*--*--*--*--*

It took Brian several tries, and eventually several francs, but he managed to get a pair of strapping young French lads to help him carry Jean Paul back to the apartment they were renting. Naturally, he was exceptionally worried over what he saw as a relapse in Jean Paul's condition. When they had first left the laboratory of the Grey Abbott in Africa, Jean Paul had been nearly catatonic. It took Brian and Lilhy almost two weeks to get him to speak even a syllable, and that was only after Lilhy took matters into her own hands and tried kissing him.

She had claimed it worked for Snow White, so why not Azrael? Brian had instantly regretted starting her education on the outside world with Disney movies. However, it had worked, and the shy, geeky, computer nerd that the "real" Jean Paul is responded about as expected to being kissed by a beautiful woman - he blushed, tried to run away, and finally developed a huge crush on her.

Still, dealing with teaching Lilhy to survive outside the Ice Cathedral with Jean Paul's help was much easier than doing it himself. Even if he did eventually have to explain to the young man that it would be impossible for Lilhy to return his feelings if he never actually said anything to her about it. And then dealing with the fall-out of her not even understanding...but that hadn't driven Jean Paul back into a catatonic state. In fact, he had thrown himself into trying to understand the "System" that had been hypnotically implanted in him. Brian had attempted to help, even suggesting as they walked along that perhaps Jean Paul should think of the "System" as something other than a computer program - maybe even as a true angel that shared his soul. And that is when Jean Paul screamed and fell to the sidewalk.

Brian went over and over it in his mind. He just couldn't grasp exactly what had happened, but it was apparent that the young man acted like he had heard a second voice. If only Brian could discern whose voice Jean Paul had heard!

*--*--*--*--*

Jean Paul found himself floating in a white, featureless plain. One part of him was sure that he had just been lying on a sidewalk in Paris, but the rest of him was absolutely sure that he wasn't there any more. He turned his head from side to side, but in all directions for as far as he could see was absolutely nothing. Yet still he had a sense that he was not alone...

"Hello? Is there anyone out there?"

Almost immediately the scene around him changed. Now he was standing in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, beside the altar, dressed in the finest robes he had ever seen. But he still felt as if someone else was with him, although he could see no other signs of life around him.

"This isn't funny, so just come out where I can see you!"

**"As you wish, mortal."** A luminous being appeared below the altar dressed in the uniform of Azrael. **"Although I sincerely doubt that you will be happy to see me."**

Jean Paul's heart leapt into his throat, as he looked down upon his own face, exactly as he must appear to everyone else while in costume. "Who are you?"

**"I believe that you know me as the Angel Azrael, although I have been known by many names throughout the ages."**

"But, I'm Azrael! How can you be me? This doesn't make any sense..."

**"I assure you, Jean Paul du Valley, that I am who I claim to be. I also assure you that you are not, in fact, Azrael."**

"I wish that were true, but the training I received from the Order of St. Dumas made me into their angelic enforcer, I was bred to be their assassin, the punisher of those who strayed from the Order's strict views. So how can you be Azrael? Unless...am I dead?"

**"No mortal, you are very much alive. I will endeavor to explain this to you, but please be patient with me. It has been a very long time since one of your line has actually sensed my presence, and even longer since I could speak to them."**

The apparition gained a more solid form, and moved up the stairs to stand next to Jean Paul. To his credit, Jean Paul neither shied away, nor spoke, but instead merely stared patiently at the supposed Angel as one stares at a teacher about to broach a favorite subject.

**"In the year of our lord, fourteen hundred and twenty five, Louis Dumas beseeched the Lord God above to grant him a defender. He pleaded with our Lord to lend him an Angel, someone with whom he could defend his small band of men until such time as they would be truly free of the Teutonic Knights they had broken away from." **The figure seemed to grow somewhat in stature at the memory. **"Now, most mortals would simply have been ignored when they made such a grandiose demand, but Dumas had found a piece of the True Cross while sacking the Holy Lands. This small sliver of wood gave him access to the Lord in ways that no man had since Christ himself returned to Heaven."**

"I hate to interrupt, but what does all this have to do with me?" Jean Paul asked, then sheepishly stared down at his feet.

**"A fair question, I suppose. Hearing Dumas' plea, the Lord took pity upon his subject, and offered Dumas a compromise - He would not grant him an Angel outright, but would agree to combine one of his host with one of Dumas' men, creating a new being."**

"Almost sounds like that Spectre guy in the J.S.A. that I read about in Batman's files..."

**"Quiet, mortal. The Spectre, as you call him, did not come about for nearly four hundred years after I was bound." **Azrael looked down at Jean Paul, having now risen several feet off the floor. **"He, or more properly, they, are not important to this story! Now, where was I?"**

Azrael floated back down beside Jean Paul. As he did so, the scene around them again changed. They were now on a mountainside in Turkey, on a clear fall day. Sheep could be seen gathered at a stream several hundred yards away from them, and a gentle breeze filled the air.

**"Dumas was taken aback by the Lord's offer. He was not willing to volunteer one of his men himself, as he loved them all like brothers, and would not so severely change their lives without first asking their council. One man among them stood forward and volunteered for this wondrous duty, your ancestor, Jean Sebastian du Valley."** Azrael turned and pointed to a spot several hundred yards away from them, to a small group of men dressed in the armor of medieval knights. One stood apart from the rest, obviously addressing them, and when he finished, one man jumped up and walked towards him.

"Is that my ancestor? What did you call him? Jean Sebastian?"

**"Aye, mortal, what you see now is what I witnessed on that day. For, you see, the Lord had decided to grant Dumas a portion of his wrath, the Angel known as Azrael, to become Dumas' greatest defender. I was summoned the instant the Lord offered Dumas this bargain, and watched as the men deliberated. I was quite proud of the young mortal who stood ready to join with me unto eternity."**

"You say 'unto eternity', but it sounds to me like 'forever.' Yet, if that was so, how could you be here with me? Wouldn't Jean Sebastian have been immortal, like you are?"

**"I had thought this to be so. I shared Jean Sebastian's body, taking control whenever battle raged about him. I had thought we two would never be parted, but the Lord had other plans. Jean Sebastian du Valley aged just as a mortal man is meant to, and eventually grew old and died. At the moment of his death, the Lord God appeared to me, and asked me if I wished to continue in service to Dumas' infant church, or if I wished to return to the hosts with him. I had enjoyed my time in these men's company, and being curious about mortals, I chose to remain. So the Lord decreed that evermore, when the Valley who is my current partner dies, I shall pass to his eldest-born son, and begin protecting them all over again."**

Jean Paul sat down on a fallen log, and tried to absorb what the Angel had just told him. Something bothered him, though, something just didn't fit in the story...

"Ok, I think I understand what you've said. But, if this is true, why haven't you spoken with any of us in so long?"

**"Another fair question, mortal. I have great hopes for you. But that is not an answer, merely an observation. In truth, I am not fully sure why my link to your ancestors weakened as time went by. Was it that the du Valley blood in them had been diluted, or was the Church of St. Dumas falling that far from God's will?" **Azrael surveyed Jean Paul, and then with a wave of his hand changed the scene yet again.

Now they were standing at the foot of a hill, knee deep in snow, staring up at a crumbling Cathedral. Jean Paul instantly recognized it as one of his own memories; this was where he watched the Order of St. Dumas fall.

**"It appears that my second suspicion is more correct."**

Before them, they watched the remains of the Ice Cathedral fall down the side of the mountain and crash into the river at its base. Jean Paul felt a pang of guilt as he watched it come tumbling down, but Azrael laid a hand upon his shoulder and turned him away from the sight.

**"Do not feel sorry, mortal. It is obvious to me now that you did the right thing. Even with the years of brainwashing they subjected you to, you must know this to be true."**

Jean Paul could only nod weakly. Azrael began to walk, the scenery around them morphing as they moved. They were now in downtown Gotham City, or rather, on the rooftops high above it. They stood in the center of a roof, and standing before them was what appeared to be a demon.

Then Jean Paul stared a little more closely. It was no demon standing there, looking down over Gotham City, but instead his version of Batman.

"Why have you brought me here?" He asked, again feeling shame bringing color to his cheeks.

**"We must discuss this, mortal."**

*--*--*--*--*

_To Be Continued..._


	3. Azbat

Author's note: Once again, these characters do not belong to me. DC isn't using them, though, so somebody has to! :)

__

For Michelle

*--*--*--*--*

The figure on the ledge turned, giving Jean Paul and Azrael a much better look at him. His armor was mostly black, with just a hint of the Azrael gold in the gauntlets and shoulders. A dark gold bat was emblazoned upon his sternum, leading right up to a blood red visor set into his mask. A shiver went down Jean Paul's spine as he remembered this night.

Just as he remembered it, the Bat-figure in front of him walked to the center of the roof, turned, and ran full speed towards the edge. He launched himself into the night, pursuing he whose mantle Jean Paul had usurped. 

As if on cue, the scene shifted to a dank, dark natural corridor leading out of the Batcave. Bruce Wayne, also known as the Batman, stood over the fallen form of Jean Paul's Batman. A bright light cascaded down upon them both, from behind Wayne, and slightly above them.

"Why are you showing me this, Azrael?" He asked, the humility in his voice quite apparent.

****

"To remind you, mortal, that your lot in life had already been chosen nearly 400 years ago."

"But why is that? Why couldn't I make my time as Batman work?"

****

"Your time as Batman could not work because the System that was implanted in you took over. The guilt that the Order built into your mind worked a strange alchemy on your mental facilities, and perverted that which you attempted to build."

"But that's no answer at all! What you're saying is that this," he pointed to the figure barely dressed in the black Bat suit, "This wasn't even ME?"

****

"That would be correct. This Batman being that you became was neither you nor I, but strictly the System that the Order invented. It took Bruce Wayne's noble calling and perverted it completely, much as the Order itself became a perversion of Dumas' original."

Jean Paul took the time to think about this. He wondered if the guilt he still felt was simply the lingering hold that The System had over him, or if he honestly felt bad for what he did in his time as Batman. Knowing that it wasn't truly HIM helped somewhat, but there was still the feeling that he should have been able to control it.

****

"You should feel remorse for your actions. You took an oath, to uphold his mantle, to use his methods, and to, most of all, NOT KILL. Yet, you allowed Abattoir to fall to his death!"

Jean Paul withered under Azrael's mighty gaze, much as he did that day in the field with Wayne. The similarity struck him for a moment, but was suddenly gone when Azrael continued.

****

"However, this was as much my fault as it was yours." The figure of Azrael shrank somewhat, and his inner light dimmed somewhat. **"For had I not given up on your forefathers, had I managed to maintain my intimate contact with them, the Order never would have been able to fall as far as it has..."**

As Azrael trailed off, Jean Paul realized something very important. This figure, be it Angel or simply another part of himself, or both, was just as sad, angry, and remorseful as he was. Angel or fractured personality, this being was just as messed up as he was!

"Azrael, neither of us can take the blame for decisions made by others. The Gray Abbott once told me that Angels were less than human, and merely slaves. If this view were widely held in the order, knowing that you were real wouldn't change their minds about what they were doing."

****

"I know what you are saying is true, Jean Paul, but that does not make my guilt lessen."

Jean Paul smiled wryly, "Then we share more than simply a body, Azrael."

The two stood there for a long moment, as the Batcave faded away. They stood once more in a perfectly white world, surrounded by nothingness and light, all at the same time.

"So where do we go from here, now that I know you're with me?"

****

"That is up to you, mortal. I am awake now, but you are not. It would be a simple thing to retreat into your subconscious again, and leave you to your own fate."

Jean Paul didn't even consider the possibility. "No, you must stay with me. All of this will make more sense if I have someone to talk to who truly understands..."

****

"Realize this, mortal. If you choose to keep me in my awakened state, I will be with you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and no one else will ever truly hear my voice but you. Many will think you schizophrenic, and attempt to incarcerate you."

"Half the people who know me already think I'm nuts, thanks to my time in the Bat suit. All I ask of you is that you don't comment on every single thing I do. And get lost if I ever happen to find myself in an intimate situation with a woman."

Azrael chuckled mightily at this last suggestion. **"Are you certain? I have been bonded to vigorous human males for four centuries, I may be able to suggest..."**

"Absolutely not!"

****

"If that is your wish, then I shall endeavor to follow the rules you set. However, I will still be present, as you and I will never truly be separate until your death."

Jean Paul paused for a moment, and truly considered the implications. Finally, he spoke but one simple phrase - "Let it be so."

*--*--*--*--*

"Brian! I think he's coming out of it!" Lilhy cried as she came running out of Jean Paul's room.

"He's stirring?" Brian asked, as he rushed to rise from his chair.

Lilhy stopped in front of him, nearly out of breath. "Stirring is not quite the word for it. He rose up out of bed, grabbed his Azrael garb, and started getting dressed in it!"

Brian ran into the room, where he was met by the sight of Jean Paul's face in Azrael's garb.

"Just where do you think you're going, young man?" He asked sternly.

Jean Paul just smiled at him. "I need to get out and clear my head. Don't worry, 'Dad', I'll be back before dawn."

Jean Paul placed Azrael's helmet over his head, and walked by Brian and out into the night.

"How did he know what time it was, anyway?" Lilhy asked from the hallway behind Brian.

"I suppose he looked at the clock next to his bed, Lilhy."

"Oh..."

*--*--*--*--*

__

To Be Continued...


End file.
